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Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Today I'm inviting Lucy Baker to share her thoughts on self-care in academia. Lucy is a PhD candidate at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, researching mainstream and fan adaptations that change the gender of one or more characters. My research interests are primarily around feminism, gender, literature and media. Besides that, Lucy is also a mother.

I'm a PhD candidate, and I am also mother to one, with a partner who works full-time, and not nearly enough funding to cover enough childcare to give myself a full 40 hour work week on my research. So I cram, squashing space and time.

These are my self-care tips, and what it actually looks like in my life:

The usual duo of sleeping and eating. I know this is so common as to go unstated, but it really isn't. Sleep, in something like regular blocks, and treat it with the care and love it deserves. I've become a great proponent of sleep hygiene, which can be hard when you're a student. Staying away from backlit screens for an hour or longer before sleeping? Some days I don't manage it, but I bought an e-reader specifically to help with this. There's something similar to be said about eating too - approach it mindfully and with love. Two minute noodles and coffee can get you through when you're on a deadline but sometimes you need to give yourself a bowl of proper noodles, with real vegetables and protein and a sweet and sticky sauce that makes you smile and makes your tastebuds sing. So some days it's eggs for dinner while we scramble around the table like ravenous wolves, but some days I plate up like I'm on Masterchef, simply for the joy of it. Sure, that article doesn't get read, the paper doesn't get the fifteenth edit, but I eat and I am happy. And I don’t go full Snickers.

Which brings me to rewards. Try them, they're great. It might be five minutes clicking around on the internet, or a coffee. It might be that awesome picture on your desktop when you close your document you're working on. But don't set yourself up to fail and punish yourself through the reward system. I worked with children for an extended period and I always found that the effect of a reward was always an overall positive and that while punishment might end up with compliance, it also had a number of negative effects that just made it not worthwhile. So treat yourself with kindness.

That's my main one. Treat yourself with kindness. There's a misconception, a received wisdom, in academia that we have to be cut-throat, hard as nails and vicious. And some of us are. But we can still be kind. Kind doesn't mean letting that obvious misquote pass, or work to remain undone, but it doesn't mean reading emails at 2am and weeping because you have no more hope. If I'm working on something and pulling my hair out I flick an email to a peer, to someone I can trust to tell me something kind. Protect yourself too - if that person isn't, or could never be, your supervisor then you might need to change that. In the meantime find your people that you can call out to for a cheer squad moment.

Be kind to yourself, and to those around you, so that you have the energy and motivation to continue. In my house, in my life, this looks like fun coloured sticky notes through my texts, it looks like studying on the couch while my daughter watches a movie, it looks like almonds and dark chocolate for afternoon tea, it looks like coffee with my supervisors, not a scrambled meeting in a corridor. It looks like not answering my emails after 8:30pm and not expecting a reply if I have a sudden insight. It’s about riding those moments of inspiration until they’re dry, and doing admin when in drought. It’s refusing to hold myself to a standard of work that has nothing in common with my lived experience, my talents, my instincts. I don’t do well with writing schedules – like Kameron Hurley I do writing binges (or 'bootcamps' to be more academic). I don’t do well with routines that depend on my family following a schedule – two people with ADHD do not make for a scheduled lifestyle, no matter how hard we try. I do spectacularly well when I acknowledge that my writing comes in fits and starts. That I edit in the down times. That I am able to read a text in small chunks and take notes and synthesise. That I like cataloguing data. If something doesn't work, let it sit, and look elsewhere.

I have a good therapist and a good GP which helps too. Don’t wait until things have fallen apart before you try to fix them; pre-emptive care works best. A PhD is stressful, and can be awful, but it doesn't have to be. Put yourself in the strongest position and keep yourself there – don’t work until you’re empty before you try to change your habits.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Today I have the pleasure of inviting Mary-Lynn Chambers, Assistant Professor of English at Elizabeth City State University, North Carolina, to PhD Talk. Dr. Mary-Lynn Chambers has her Ph.D. in Technical and Professional Communication from East Carolina University. She has taught English in Virginia and North Carolina at community colleges and universities. Her instructional focus is composition and literature, with a research focus in online education at HBCU schools. She enjoys interacting with her students and inspiring them to write better, think more critically, and love literature. This professor views the classroom as an opportunity to make a difference.

Have you ever been to the beach and joined the vacationers who are enjoying the entertainment that the ocean has to offer? If you have, then you will know there are times when you are hit with a wave that pulls you under and leaves you breathless and confused. During those moments, you wonder why you opted to enter the water in the first place. Then there are those times when you see the wave coming and you work with the wave to ride it into shore where you celebrate your success. At the beach, the difference between frustration and success is your ability to be able to catch the wave.
A successful beach vacation can create a temporary euphoria, but when the vacation is over and we return to work, the stresses of teaching often eclipse our earlier fun when we faced the daunting waves and won! Well, it is time that we learn how to make our instructional endeavors less stressful and more like a vacation by learning how to ride the technology wave rather than fighting against the wave. A different vision and a few strategic steps will help you leave behind the frustration and floundering and join the instructors who are celebrating their technology success.

Technology is here to stay, so let’s reduce the stress that technology creates and figure out how to incorporate some of it into our face-to-face and online classrooms. Our students are seeking the inclusion of technology during instruction (Jones & Johnson-Yale, 2005), so let’s increase our influence by learning how to effectively incorporate technology into our teaching (Ahlfeldt, Mehta & Sellnow, 2005). There are a few technological tools that are easily navigated, yet their inclusion in a learning environment will have a significant impact on the learning process.

YouTube

If you have access to an iPhone or iPad, then record an instructional component with one of these devices. You can video an important part of a lesson as you are teaching it in the classroom. Also, you can record an event or activity outside the classroom. When you have the opportunity, go back to the recording and click on it. Then click on the box that indicates you want to upload it. One of the options available will be YouTube. Select YouTube and follow the easy steps . With a little patience, the video will be posted to YouTube. At that point, you have the option of editing it and making it private or public. Also, there are other instructional YouTube videos available, and a well-chosen video for your class can be a welcome addition.

PowerPoint with Voice-Over The PowerPoint is a common technology used in the classroom, but in order to make it more multi-modal in an online environment, let’s add the voice-over component. Once you have completed the PowerPoint, go to slideshow and click on record, then start recording. You can advance from slide to slide with the space bar. Once you are done talking through the slides, press the escape key. If you are happy with the recording, then make sure you save it. This tool can be added to an online class site where the students have the information on the slides as well as your voice explaining the information or process.

Games Most students enjoy playing a game, so why not incorporate an online game into their learning process. This game can be used in a face-to-face classroom or posted online. The Educational Technology Network website provides instructions regarding the use of the Jeopardy game through a PowerPoint. This tool can be used as a review for a test or to heighten their awareness regarding what they know and don’t know concerning a certain topic.

These three suggestions are a few simple solutions to help manage the technology challenge that can be overwhelming at times. If you still feel anxious about the incorporation of these suggestions, then type in your question to YouTube and watch an instructional video concerning how to do the activity you are trying to do. It is time to join the fun by riding the technology wave. Start simply by trying just one of these activities. If you like it, then use it in a few different ways before you venture to try another one. Continued pedagogical development with the incorporation of technology should be a practice shared by all instructors (Tharp, 2006). Pretty soon, you too will be stress free as you incorporate a technology into your instructional time.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Here's a recent submission from a reader (I obviously took out the personal details of the writer, and replaced these by Someone, Somewhere, My Field, and in Countries X and Y).

Dear Eva

This is Someone I am a new PhD student at Somewhere.

Actually I have experience in My Field because I was in Country X for 2 years before my PhD fellowship in Country Y but I am afraid of new techniques I will find in the new lab in Country Y I do not know much more about it before so do you think I am right with my fears or not ???

Should I know everything at my new lab. what they are expecting from me.

Thanks

Yours

Someone

As always, let me break this question down into a few different elements.

I have experience in My Field

That's already great - not all new PhD students have had the chance to learn in different countries and build up some experience. Some might come into their program with a few years of work or lab experience. Others might be completely new to the lab work they will be doing (I, for one, was completely new to lab work when I started my PhD).

You are right to have your doubts, fears and more about starting a PhD - because it's a big project and it will take you some years to finish. However, the reasons why you are doubting and fearing shouldn't really be causes for fear.Should I know everything at my new lab

They know that a new PhD student is an apprentice. The older PhD students might take you under their wing and teach you how to use the equipment in the lab, or the lab technicians might help you with that. As long as you keep an open mind and attitude, they will all be happy to help you out. Just don't take on an arrogant attitude, saying you know things and all that - just patiently listen and learn how things in the new lab work. And of course, bringing coffee and cookies to the other folks in the lab at some point is always a good way to win some sympathy, make friends, find a time to discuss and have a great break together.

What they are expecting from me?

That's a question I can't really answer - it depends on your project, your lab and your professor. If you have any doubts, if it isn't clear to you on which actions you should be devoting more time, then please speak up and ask them.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

I recently came across an article from Lifehack about studying efficiently. While I'm a big fan of productivity hacks, I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all approach to studying. Some people need to mumble out loud when they study. Others sketch, mindmap and doodle to see connections. Our brains are extremely complex mechanisms, and how we optimally learn is embedded deep within.

In the Storify below, you can find a few precise points of criticism I had on the Lifehack article:

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

I know I'm totally behind on replying questions in the Q&A series, but finally I'm back with a question I personally replied to a reader quite some time ago already.

Some time ago, I received the following message in my inbox:

Hey
I have read some of your blogs and they are really really good. They have helped me a lot in getting motivated for my research in masters. Actually i am doing my thesis in masters and now a days i am feeling very very down due to loneliness (i live in a hostel) and pressure of work. When some one gives me a motivational speech or i read some motivational stuff ( like i read yours) i am greatly motivated and promise myself to work hard on my thesis but after some time, the effect wears off and again I am back in that no motivation mood. Mostly I am locked up in my cubicle and doing nothing, and it wastes lots of my time. Most of the time I am depressed and I feel like I wont b able to complete my thesis. I am scared to do research. I only feel better when i go out of the room and meet people or socialize. But I can't do it all the time because it also wastes lots of time. I am suffering from very very low motivation and want to complete my thesis on time and submit it but I don't know i can't bring in the motivation to even open a research article and study. Sometimes i feel like i should seriously consult a psychiatrist. Sometimes negative thoughts like suicide also cross my mind. Mostly I can't even bring myself to get up and brush my teeth. I plan to go to library but even can't push myself to do that. I get up early in the morning to get ready and go to library but then i keep it pending and pending.I have wasted months i this process. Please help me. Please I seriously need help.

The first thing that came to my mind after reading this message, was that this student needs help. I'm not a professional mental health care taker, but we all know when somebody needs help, and this message spoke right to my heart. Even though it's hard to judge at a distance and I can only give a little bit of encouragement and a nudge to get help when you need it, there's always the tiny little support we can give. So I replied as follows:

Thanks for sending me your message through my blog.
Reading your message, I would like to suggest you to talk to a counselor of your university. All of us go through difficult times during our PhD, but for some people those difficulties at times appear to be impossible to overcome. From what you wrote me, I had the impression you’ve hit a really rough patch. Most universities have psychologists working for them, especially to help people in your case.

There’s no shame in asking for help when you need it. You’ll do much more damage to yourself and your studies if you try to keep up appearances, but crash in a few months from now.
I’ll write a longer post dealing with your cry for help, but in the meantime I already wanted to reach out to you and encourage you to seek support in your institution.

So remember, there's absolutely no shame in asking for help when you need it - even though in academia it might be considered as a failure. It's not - you'll only do more damage to yourself and your work if you stay in the same place where you are - a dark place where you'd rather not be hanging out for too long.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Last Friday, students from the Civil Engineering department of Universidad San Francisco de Quito, competed in national concrete student competition of Ecuador. My two concrete colleagues and I were involved as tutors of the two groups of students, and I'm very proud to announce that one team won the first place in the category of highest capacity to lowest cost for a beam reinforced with FRP bars. This achievement is even more impressive given that we only officially opened our tiny concrete lab in November, and we're missing way more equipment than we have...

The next step is to prepare for the international competition in Kansas City in the second week of April. Cross your fingers and send us some buckets of elbow grease, please!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Last December, a study day was organized on the topic of the proofloading of the Ruytenschildt bridge in Friesland, in which I participated. As my interest is the ultimate limit state capacity of reinforced concrete slab bridges, I was involved in predicting the maximum load necessary to cause the collapse of the bridge. The analysis of the results of the testing is still work in progress, but the prediction calculations were something that could be shown to the audience in December. Unfortunately, I was in Ecuador at the time, so my supervisor presented the work. You can find the slides of the presentation below.